New tires and wheels - 325/60R18's on Eagle 114's

[Spooled-up]

I just got them mounted up today at Bob Sumeral tire. They had the Hunter tire mounting machine and it had rubber pads that didn't do any damage to the wheel. The last set of Weld wheels I had were mounted at a Goodyear shop and they used the steel clamps that immediately chipped the chrome on the backside of the wheel. The Eagle 114's are 18 x 9. 5 and have 6" of backspacing. They are polished (super finish) which means they are machined well enough that they don't have to do a separate polishing step at the factory. I can see some machine marks, but when you stand more than 3 feet away, they look good. One of the center caps arrived broken and 2 more are on the way (one for a spare).



The tires are Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ 325/60R18's and are load range E. This equates to a 33X13. 50R18LT. I used Innovative Balancing ceramic beads with the filtered valve cores. I also used ZoopSeal on the wheels. Kind of an involved process. Not sure I would do it again, but if it works as advertised, I might re-apply it. It took quite a bit of time to apply.



My truck is not lifted - no leveling kit and they don't rub anywhere. They ride nice and smooth up to 60mph or so (as fast as I've gone so far).



Here's the pics:



A before photo:



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They stick out about 1. 5", so I may need flares.



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[gsbrockman]

Looks great, Dave.



Greg

 

[Big Sur]

Looking good

 

[JEvers]

Very nice. Road noise? How's the ride?

 

[Spooled-up]

They have a barely noticable hum. With the balancing beads, when you make big changes in speed, the beads take a couple of seconds to find their place and you'll get small amount of vibration. I got used to it after 20 miles of driving. They're not silky smooth like the stock 265's, but it doesn't bother me or the wife at all and I'm pretty picky.

 

[MartyK]

I was wondering if you ran your Eagle wheels through the winter and how they held up. Did the zoop seal help?





Thanks,

Marty

 

[MYeary]

Looks great, rims & tires can make a huge diff. in appearance.

 

[Spooled-up]

I was wondering if you ran your Eagle wheels through the winter and how they held up. Did the zoop seal help?





Thanks,

Marty

I actually did not run them through the winter. I bought a new Mega Cab in December and didn't want to mount the wheels without having fender flares on the truck. They only stick out about an inch and a half, but they throw up all the road moisture and make the truck really dirty really quick.



I'm on the hunt for some ATS fender flares right now.